Gabriel Schwartzman (born 1976) is a Romanian-born American

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...

Biography

Originally from

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, Romanian Schwartzman moved to Florida, USA. He played in his first chess tournament at the age of 4, and by the age of 12, was

FIDE Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

title. Three years later, he became an

International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...

. In November 1993, at the age of 17, he was awarded the International Grandmaster title, making him one of the youngest Grandmasters at the time. In 1988 he took 2nd, behind

Judit Polgár Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, widely regarded as the Strong (chess), strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years ...

, in the World Under 12 Championship. Schwartzman won the 1996

U.S. Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

at the age of 19 (youngest since

Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...

) and was the winner of the Internet World Student Championship. He started the world's first interactive chess school in 1996, the Internet Chess Academy. Aaron, Manuel (1935- )
/ref> Schwartzman has a bachelor's degree with highest honors in finance from the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

as Palmer Scholar from the

Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School ( ) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton ...

. Schwartzman retired from chess in 2000 to focus on a career in business.

References

External links

* *
Gabriel Schwartzman at 365Chess.com
Chess Grandmasters Living people Romanian expatriates in the United States Romanian chess players American chess players University of Florida alumni Wharton School alumni 1976 births Chess players from Bucharest American chief executives American corporate directors Romanian chief executives Businesspeople from Bucharest Businesspeople from Fort Lauderdale, Florida {{US-chess-bio-stub